Goldman Sachs Starts Abercrombie & Fitch as a “Neutral”; Short Term Good, Long Term Uncertain (ANF)

The firm resumed coverage on ANF with a “Neutral” rating and $54 price target, suggesting a 14% upside to the stock’s Monday closing price of $47.31.

A Goldman analyst commented, “Our near-term tactical bias is constructive, as we see healthy margin upside from cotton deflation, new store mix as more European stores are opened, and good merchandise positioning into holiday. Longer term our view is less certain given some questions on strategic initiatives and the impact to brand in both the US and Europe.”

Abercrombie & Fitch shares were mostly flat in premarket trading Tuesday. The stock has fallen about 3% since the beginning of 2012.

The Bottom Line
Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) have a 1.48% dividend yield, based on last night’s closing stock price of $47.31. The stock has technical support in the $39-$41 price area. If the shares can firm up, we see overhead resistance around the $50 price level.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS™ Rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars.